seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jeremiah 9:1 [a]1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.
2 Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.
2 Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.
3 “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your friends;
do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,[c]
and every friend a slanderer.
5 Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[d] live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your friends;
do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,[c]
and every friend a slanderer.
5 Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[d] live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps for them.
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps for them.
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”
10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds have all fled
and the animals are gone.
and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds have all fled
and the animals are gone.
11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”
12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”
20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
21 Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
21 Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.
22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”
like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”
23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[e] For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
a. Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.
b. Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
c. Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
d. Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)
e. Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads
I think this is a list of reasons God is right to have the Babylonians overrun Judah. No real parent want to make their children weep.... but sometimes kids need a spanking.... and having the Babylonians take them away is, IMHO, God's way of spanking His humans. In verse 2 It seems to say.... "wish I had a babysitter I could leave them with and get a break". When I got to verse 25 I saw the hypocrites again. First God, through Jeremiah, talked about the fake preachers, priests, and rabbis. Now I see Him pointing out the Sunday pew warmers. They dress the part, know all the right words, say all the right things at just the right second, have all the "important" Bible verses memorized, volunteer at the best events, and give the proper financial assistance.... they put on a great show.... but as soon as their car passes out of sight of the church.... they curse the poor.... finance abortions..... and spit at everyone's faith.
Bible-studys.org has the following.
God made a case to His people that their treatment of Him would inevitably affect their treatment of each other. Failure to acknowledge God (“through deceit they refuse to know Me”), leads to a general lowering of all righteous behavior (Hosea 4:1-2).
God “refines” or tries His people, first for correction and improvement, second for punishment. Job understood this in the midst of his trails: “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold”.
God answers the “why are we suffering” question with five grievances. One consequence of persistent sin is always persistent suffering.
Funeral ceremonies and processions were often attended by professional “mourning women” (2 Sam. 14:2; 2 Chron. 35:25; Matt. 9:23), as attested by the evidence throughout the ancient Near East. So sever and widespread will be the “death” scene, that the female population at large will be needed in order that lamentations may be made for all the dead. Death is pictured here as an unwelcome intruder, the Grim Reaper. So numerous will be the dead that, unlike the situation in harvesting where the gatherers follow the reapers, the number of available men to bury the dead will be insufficient. Therefore, the “carcases of men” will lie unburied, a particularly loathsome thought to those in the ancient Near East.
The coming calamity on the people of Judah would be so great that individuals would be unable to grieve properly. The call should go out for professional mourners (“cunning [women]”), who could help in the grieving. Children should be taught to wail as part of their upbringing.
Having lamented the folly of his faithless people, Jeremiah turns their attention to the true source of “wisdom” – the Lord Himself. True wisdom was to be found in the consistent following of the three central qualities of spiritual life: “Loving-kindness (the exercise of true covenant loyalty; compare the note on 1 Sam. 20:14-17), “judgement” (the consistent application of true justice for all), and “righteousness (the maintenance of what was right in the sight of the Lord in all of life).
Two directives God gives as He uses people in His service:
(1) That they not “glory” in themselves or any personal achievement; and
(2) That they give the glory to God.
The apostle Paul references this passage (in 1 Cor. 1:31), to recommend glorying, or boasting, in God. A person who “understandeth and knoweth” God does not stop at accumulating information about God but pursues a personal relationship with Him.
This is from the easy English site.These verses describe how all the people were not sincere. Their lies were like arrows. Arrows can destroy the body. But lies destroy friendships between people. Even members of the same family could not trust each other. Verse 4 says that every brother cheats like Jacob. He cheated his brother Esau (Genesis 27:36). Actually, the people had taught themselves to lie. Their sins were so many that they had made themselves very tired. So it had become difficult to change their behaviour. Verse 3 says that they did not take any notice of the LORD. Verse 6 shows that the situation was worse. They refused to take any notice of the LORD.
So many people would die. Death is like a person who can go anywhere. Nothing can stop death when it enters private houses. Death is like a thief that climbs in through a window. A story from the country called Canaan describes death in a similar way. Death can get into cities with strong walls. People of all ages would die. Children, who play in the streets, would die. Young men, who meet each other in the market place, would die. There would be so many bodies that they would be like rubbish on the fields. Death is like a farmer who cuts down his corn at harvest time. There is nobody to pick up the corn. And there would be nobody to pick up the dead bodies. Nobody would bury them.
The LORD never intended that circumcision should be only a physical act. It should show that the nation gave honour to the LORD as their King. The LORD’s people must obey him (Genesis 17:9-14). ‘To circumcise the heart’ meant to obey the LORD’s laws (Deuteronomy 10:16-20).
IMHO.... God said.... in plain human language.... through Jeremiah..... "stop pretending..... stop putting on the Sunday smile taught by well meaning mothers and Sunday School teachers..... and let God's light shine." IMHO.... There is a worldwide earthquake in the future..... God is going to clean house.... only the people who truly love The Lord will survive..... all those fake smiles.... all those huge checks in the collection plate..... all those memorized verses..... and feel good verses memorized.... all those fake profession of faith.... all those fake renewals..... won't mean a thing. God created humans.... He knows us down to the single molecule..... He knows when humans lie.
Give up bucko..... a human can't lie to God.... a human can be the best Sunday pew warmer in the church, chapel or synagogue.... but God knows us down to our very soul. He getting tired of human lies.
